Tag: interview

Note: This was first posted on SF Signal on December 9, 2014. I wanted to repost it this month, as May is Williams Syndrome Awareness Month.

Mercedes Murdock Yardley is a friend of mine. We talk frequently, and commiserate about health issues neither of us can control, just deal with as best as we can. She’s an up-and-coming author with several books under her belt, and more on the way. She’s creative, and passionate, and an absolute joy to talk to.

One of the things that always gets me about her writing, especially now that I know her on a personal level, is how certain aspects of her life fuel her books. Her books are dark and delicious, with a shocking (and quite refreshing) innocence, and an undertone of deep, profound loss, all of which is reflective of the life she has lived, and the challenges she faces daily.

I asked her if she’d be willing to open up with me about her life, her son with Williams Syndrome, and how it has all impacted her writing. This conversation is the result of that. Huge thanks to Mercedes for being willing to talk about these tender topics.

A few weeks ago Chuck Wendig wrote about his anxiety on Terribleminds. It was a fantastic essay, and I was incredibly glad that someone with a voice as powerful as his decided to write about a subject that really doesn’t get talked about often enough. I decided to bother Mr. Wendig until he let me ask him ten questions which elaborated on points he made in that essay.

I highly suggest you read the original essay, and a massive THANK YOU to the busiest man in the genre for letting me take up some of his time with my pesky interview. I’ve admired and followed Chuck for a long, long time, and being able to interview him was, hands down, one of the highlights of my six years in the genre.